WHO chief calls for 'urgent lifting' of aid blockade, protection of health care in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The director-general of the World Health Organization on Thursday called for the "urgent lifting" of the aid blockade, protection of health care and humanitarian access in Gaza, warning the siege increases the risk of disease and death.

Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 75% of UN missions within Gaza had been denied or impeded last week.

Calling for the lifting of the aid blockade immediately, he said ensuring the protection of health care and humanitarian access across the enclave is a must.

"Yesterday, WHO and our partners evacuated 18 patients and 29 companions to Norway, Malta, Luxembourg, and Romania," he said, warning that more than 10,000 patients in Gaza still await evacuation.

Touching on how the already dire situation in the Gaza Strip has become crippling, Tedros stressed that they took advantage of the ceasefire to resupply the health system and our warehouses, however, after six weeks of blockade, those supplies are "dangerously low," and they run out in two to four weeks, unless the siege is lifted.

The Israeli army renewed a deadly assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering the nearly two-month ceasefire that took effect in January.

Israel has killed More than 50,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.